A Toony Kind of Love

Chapter 14 - Dark Turn At The Studio

"You need a heart before you can have an attack."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got the will?"

"Sure. I got the will." Eddie stated, showing a small bit of folded paper to Maroon from within his jacket before closing it back up. He then casually made his way over to the bottle of bourbon behind his desk and asked, "Question is, do you have the way? 'Cause I can tell you now, it ain't gonna come cheap."

"You've got a lotta brass coming up here by yourself."

"Who said I'm here by myself?"

...

Roger's unconscious form was thrown into the trunk of a car and slammed shut in one swift motion. The figure sighed as they flipped their long, red hair over their shoulder and was revealed to be none other than Jesse Rabbit.

"Sorry, Rog." He sighed out sadly.

A muffled cry made his head shoot up and he went around to look at (Y/N), who was tied up in the front seat. She had her hands tied behind her and a red, polka dot covered cloth was around her mouth to keep her quiet.

She tried to call for help but the only one that could hear her was Jesse. He frowned as he went to her window which made her freeze in terror.

"It's nothing personal, Doll." She sniffled as he ran his hand gently down her cheek before turning around and heading towards the building. "Just can't have anyone in the way."

...

Maroon grabbed the gun out of his pocket and ordered, "Let me see that will."

"I told ya, I got it."

"I wanna see it now!"

He lost his patience as he turned Eddie around and roughly pulled the folded paper out of his pocket. Though, when he opened it, he was confused to see that it was covered in writing made of lipstick. Eddie had asked (Y/N) to give him Roger's letter to Jesse, just to make Maroon think he had the will. Though, he had not expected Maroon to get so assertive and aggressive so fast.

"This supposed to be a joke?" He angrily asked as he stuffed the letter into Eddie's belt.

"No, this is."

He grabbed a spritzer bottle and sprayed Maroon with it before he had any time to react. He then punched him in the face, knocking him down and quickly grabbing the gun.

"Get up." Eddie demanded as he held Maroon at gunpoint.

Maroon shakily started to stand up, tears welling in his eyes as he asked, "What are ya gonna do to me, Valiant?"

"I'm going to listen to you spin the Cloverleaf scenario." Eddie grabbed a hold of Maroon's tie then threw the gun away. He then dragged him over to the editing machine as he continued, "The story of greed, sex and murder. And the parts that I don't like, I'm gonna edit out."

"You've got it all wrong! I'm a cartoon maker, not a murderer!" Maroon pleaded.

"Everybody's got to have a hobby."

Eddie put Maroon's tie into the editing machine and turned it on. It spun around the sturdy fabric and pulled Maroon's face down and closer to its mechanisms. Eddie stopped it before it could pull him in too far and it was enough to get Maroon to start singing.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! The truth is, I had a chance to sell my studio, but Cloverleaf wouldn't buy my property unless Acme sold 'em hers. The stubborn bitch wouldn't sell so I was going to blackmail Acme with pictures of her and the rabbit's brother. Blackmail, that's all. I've been around Toons all my life. I didn't want to see them destroyed!"

"Toons destroyed? Why?"

As Eddie asked this, a long gun barrel came slithering in through the window and slowly turned to point at the two men.

"If I tell ya, I'm a dead man."

Eddie grew angrier as he stomped on the pedal of the editing machine, making Maroon get choked out a little more.

"You're a dead man if you don't tell me."

"U-Unless Acme's will shows by midnight tonight, Toon Town's going to be land for the free- "

Three bullets pierced Maroon's back, cutting off his confession and filling the room with his cries of pain. Eddie was quick to jump away and dashed over to take cover behind the sofa.

The unknown gunman then shot at Eddie but he was safe before any bullets could hit him. He grabbed Maroon's gun but was too late to fire back as the murderer pulled back and began to flee. Eddie looked over at Maroon's limp body before he sprung up to try and see who shot at him.

He carefully looked out of the window and his eyes widened when he saw Jesse Rabbit running down the studio lot. He looked around for a bit, most likely making sure there were no other witnesses before he ran off down one direction.

...

Eddie raced down the stairs as fast as he could but he wasn't fast enough. Jesse's car raced past him and out the studio. Just as he ran to his own car, he could see (H/L) (H/C) coloured hair flutter out of Jesse's car as (Y/N) flopped practically half her body out the window and tried her best to scream for help.

"(Y/N)!" Eddie yelled in panic as he got into his own car, racing after Jesse's.

He watched as Jesse's purple-gloved hand pulled (Y/N) back into his car. He sped up to maybe try and ram him but Jesse was just too far ahead.

They raced across the streets of California, tyres screeching from their speed. But Eddie was the first to slam down on the brakes and stop dead in the road, while Jesse's car disappeared into a dark tunnel. It led to the one place Eddie had never hoped to see again - Toon Town.